Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Part 1: New World Notes #438, 28:08 (July 26)
Broadcast quality MP3 (38 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #439, 28:22 (August 2)
Broadcast quality MP3
Decent quality MP3

Robert Lustig is a physician (pediatric endocrinologist) and medical researcher. In this engaging and wide-ranging talk, he identifies the most important cause of America's epidemic of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary disease, liver disease, and metabolic disorder. The culprit is sugar, specifically fructose.

Industry is increasing the amount of fructose in packaged foods, including and especially soda. High fructose corn syrup is not the only villain: many forms are bad, including table sugar (which the body turns into fructose).

Lustig explores the politics, economics, and biochemistry behind this now-global problem.

With an introduction by K.D.

Robin Upton, of Unwelcome Guests, adapted Lustig's lecture to radio. A video also is available, on YouTube.

Let Your Life Be a Friction to Stop the Machine

New World Notes #437, 29:02 (July 12)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

An essay on America's current problems from Class War Films. A wide-ranging but concise critique of how America is run by a financial and corporatist elite. It's also about how our national myths (e.g., American Exceptionalism) are used to sugar-coat and justify imperial war abroad, political repression at home, and economic exploitation everywhere.

Beneath the Doomsday/Armageddon tone and style of this piece is an intelligent, cogent, left-of-center critique of our current system.

Plus--relatedly--a few words by me on this unhappy election season.

How the Government Spies on You

New World Notes #436, 27:52 (July 12)
Broadcast quality MP3 (38 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB) (Link unavailable at the moment)

A talk by technology expert and civil-liberties activist Chris Soghoian.

The government tried to prevent strong encryption of phone calls and text and email messages. Failing that, it now hacks and decrypts personal communications at will ... and worse. It's not just the NSA and FBI: with federal funds, local police forces also are acquiring and using the latest secret surveillance technology. Citizens have been fighting back--often successfully--through the courts and the media.

Soghoian spoke in Seattle on March 11, 2016.  The original audio recording (which I have edited and condensed a little) courtesy of Mike McCormick.

Bitter Lake

Part 1: New World Notes #433, 29:15 (June 21)*
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #434, 29:00 (June 28)*
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 3: New World Notes #435, 28:12 (July 5)*
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Carlos Latuff, "Obama and Vietghanistan" (2009)

Adam Curtis's new video documentary, condensed and adapted to radio by KD.

It's about the history and politics of Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and the U.S. since the 1940s. It's about the repeated failures of reformers--American, Russian, and Afghan alike--to remake and modernize Afghanistan.

It's about shrewd and cynical calculations by Saudi and American leaders--who promoted development and stability in Saudi Arabia by exporting Saudi extremist Islam (Wahhabism) abroad--including to Afghanistan.

It's about Wall Street giants, fat with Saudi petrodollars, beyond the control of any government. About Western governments that don't want to govern, anyway.

It's about how Afghanistan always seems to destroy the armies that invade it--and damage the invading countries. And it's about those two pillars of Western foreign policy: blowback and unintended consequences.

An original and interesting view of the world today and how we got here.

Russian troops leaving Afghanistan, late 1988 or 1989

Part 1 looks at the fateful postwar U.S.-Saudi alliance ... early attempts to modernize and Westernize Afghanistan ... and how, for decades, Saudi rulers achieved stability at home by exporting the reactionary, extreme form of Islam-Wahhabism--abroad.  And it looks at decades of political upheaval in Afghanistan, leading to a home-grown socialist revolutionary government--and Russian intervention when that fell apart.

Part 2 focuses on the failed Russian attempts to reform Afghanistan in the 1980s ... the failed American attempts to reform Afghanistan since 2001 ... the transfer of political power in the West from governments to defense industries and the banks ... the naive "Good vs. Evil" worldview shared by Washington, London, the Taliban, and Osama Bin Laden ... the vicious battle of the Afghan Mujahideen and the Russians ... and how the West aided the rise of Islamic extremism.

Part 3 shows the corruption, conflicts, complexity, warlordism, and ever-shifting local alliances of Afghan society today. And it shows the naivete and ignorance of the English and American occupying forces--and of the politicians who dispatched them. Armed with a simplistic "Good vs. Evil" worldview--and ignorant of the complexities and conflicts of modern Afghan society--the occupying troops are increasing death and destruction while moving Afghanistan farther away from the goal of stability and democracy.

Filmmaker Adam Curtis

More by Adam Curtis: New World Notes adapted Curtis's film Love and Power to radio, in two installments, in December 2013. For more information and links to the audio, see our Web page for that program.


*MP3s downloaded from these links are numbered as New World Notes #362, 363, and 364.

Amy Goodman in Cambridge

Part 1: New World Notes #431, 28:45 (June 7)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #432, 27:43 (June 14)
Broadcast quality MP3
Decent quality MP3

Amy Goodman

Selections from a recent talk in Cambridge, MA, by journalist Amy Goodman, longtime host of Democracy Now!  Goodman tells stories that explore the corruption of the corporate media and that show ordinary people fighting back against the System--sometimes successfully.

In Part 1, many of her stories come from the recent past--specifically 2011. Highlights include the trial and execution of Troy Davis, popular rebellion in Wisconsin, Occupy Wall Street, and some memorable climate activism.

In Part 2, Goodman tells of KPFT-FM vs. the Klan ... the 2015 murder of Black church members in Charleston ... and Bree Newsome's heroic (if felonious) cuting down of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse lawn. Plus tales of Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, and more. Plus a song by David Rovics.

Goodman spoke in Cambridge on May 10, 2016. The original 75-minute recording--which I have condensed and edited--courtesy of Stan Robinson for Truth and Justice Radio (truthandjusticeradio.org).

Goodman's new book (with Denis Moynihan and David Goodman) is Democracy Now!: 20 Years Covering the Movements Changing America.

The Slippery Slope of Memorial Day

New World Notes #430, 28:31  (May 31)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

An anti-war, anti-militarism perspective on Memorial Day.

Journalist Robert Fisk explains that (and why) there's been no "Good War" after 1945. KD reads Howard Zinn's famous 1976 column on Memorial Day (which got Zinn fired from the Boston Globe). KD also reads and demolishes the beloved war poem, "In Flanders Fields." Plus Steppenwolf's antiwar rock classic of the 1970s, "Monster."

This program was first broadcast (as NWN #65) in May 2009. Fisk talk courtesy of tucradio.org. Zinn essay, "Whom Will We Honor Memorial Day?"--and much other good stuff--from The Zinn Reader (Seven Stories Press, 1997).

Potpourri 4 (Resisting the Oligarchs)

New World Notes #429, 27:32  (May 24)
Broadcast quality MP3 (38 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Joseph Keppler, The Bosses of the Senate, 1889
(Click to enlarge.)

A bit of this, a bit of that--all loosely connected by the theme of how the Powers That Be wield their power in practice. Includes comic satire by The Final Edition, a new song by David Rovics, and thoughts on Trump and the media by KD.

The real story about Trump, KD argues, is not his personal failings or his unsound policies. The real story is how the US oligarchs--and their mouthpiece, the media--work to destroy politicians who are not reliable servants of the oligarchy.

Final Edition sketch courtesy of Scooter's "innerSide" radio program (KPFT-FM, Houston).

David Rovics's song, "State House Lawn," is from his recent album, The Other Side.  https://davidrovics.bandcamp.com/music .

Why Our War Against ISIS Can't Be Won

Part 1: New World Notes #427, 29:59 (May 10)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #428, 28:04 (May 17)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Phyllis Bennis

Progressive activist Phyllis Bennis explains how US actions in the Middle East gave rise to ISIS and sustain it. Since ISIS's terrorism is a response to the profound damage the US military has done to the region--and to other US crimes and blunders--still more US military action will only make matters worse.

There is no military solution, Bennis argues, but diplomatic solutions are indeed possible. But does the US even want a diplomatic solution instead of unending war?

In Part 2, Bennis also brings in Israel, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia; and I add a few thoughts on 9-11 coverups.and the Northern Ireland peace agreement of 1998.

Phyllis Bennis's new book is Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror: A Primer (2015).

Bennis spoke in Seattle on February 2, 2016. Original recording courtesy of Mike McCormick, of "Mind Over Matters."  Many thanks.

Bill Hicks

New World Notes #426, 28:56 (May 2)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)*
Decent quality MP3 (13MB)*

Cultural critic and stand-up comedian Bill Hicks died 22 years ago at age 32. In memoriam, we present a sampling of his recorded routines (suitable for broadcast).  With brief introductions by KD.

Included:

• The war
• The elite
• Hillbillies
• Gays in the military
• "This is your brain on drugs"
• Jay Leno
• It's only a ride

Thanks to Scooter at KPFT-FM in Houston for some of the selections here.

* Previously broadcast, as NWN #318, in April 2014. MP3 files downloaded from the links, above, are named with this older program number.

Capitalism Hits the Fan

Part 1: New World Notes #424, 28:35 (April 19)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #425, 27:42 (April 26)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Richard Wolff

With clarity, force, and wit, economist Richard Wolff explains the long process that got the U.S. economy into its present crisis. He shows why there are no quick fixes--while suggesting (in Part 2) some practical actions that will help. More fundamentally, we need to re-think our commitment to corporate capitalism.

Part 1 focuses on the factors most affecting workers: growing workforce, growing productivity, declining available jobs, stagnant pay, and growing consumer debt.

Part 2 focuses more on CEOs and financiers--who managed to make a bad situation much worse. Plus Wolff's practical suggestions.

Wolff gave this guest-lecture at Brown University on December 2, 2009. I have condensed it for radio broadcast. A video of the entire presentation including introductions (1:45:00) can be found on YouTube.

New World Notes previously broadcast this two-part program in April 2012 (as NWN #213-214). MP3 files downloaded from the links, above, are named with these older program numbers.

The Crisis of Civilization

Part 1: New World Notes #422, 28:04 (April 5)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #423, 29:09 (April 12)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

U.K. political analyst Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed has written and narrates an engaging documentary film, The Crisis of Civilization. I have condensed and adapted the film to radio,

New World Notes first broadcast this two-part program (as #238-239) in September 2012--a Presidential election year, like this one. In case you were wondering why Part Two talks a bit about George Romney.

In the film, Ahmed surveys (by my count) seven serious global crises that are now besetting Western Civilization as we know it. He argues that the seven are interconnected. So none can be fixed (or even much improved) without addressing the other six.

The seven interconnected crises are

• climate change
• peak energy
• food production and distribution
• economic instability
• international terrorism
• militarization
• destruction of civil liberties

Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed 

Clips from old films enliven Ahmed's discussion, which is pretty interesting in itself.

In Part One of our adaptation, Ahmed looks at economic instability and terrorism.

In Part Two, he examines militarization and destruction of civil liberties. Also in Part Two, we'll read a good essay by Bruce Dixon, of Black Aganda Report, on how Obama and Romney agree on almost every issue. (Replace these names with "the Democrats" and "the Republicans," and the point is valid today too.)

Another thing politicians have agreed on: not to mention six of the crises we're identifying--and not to say anything sensible about the seventh, terrorism.  And I think that applies to every candidate running for President at any time in 2016--with perhaps the partial exceptions of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Part Two has new introductions and comments by K.D.

Humanitarian Intervention B.S.

New World Notes #421, 27:43 (March 29)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Belgrade, Serbia, 1999: NATO humanely intervenes--protecting civilians in Bosnia by killing civilians in Serbia

Radovan Karadzic's conviction for genocide and war crimes brings to mind the US's disastrous "humanitarian intervention" in Bosnia and Serbia in the 1990s--and more recent disastrous interventions in Libya and Syria.

In almost every case in recent history, "humanitarian intervention" has been a pretext for illegal aggression by a major power.

Brief reflections by KD are followed by a fine talk, on the same subject, by Noam Chomsky.

Chomsky spoke in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in early October, 2013.  Recording courtesy of Chuck Rosina. I have snipped out a few stumbles; the talk is otherwise uncut.

Vice and Folly--At Home and Abroad

New World Notes #420, 28:56 (March 22)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (14 MB)

Trump; the panicking Republican "elders," the corporate-controlled press, Hillary Clinton, the Presidential campaign, U.S. foreign policy, U.S. domestic policies--how many disasters can we take all at once?

We explore, with some help from commentators William Blum and Glen Ford and singer David Rovics.

Glen Ford's talk courtesy of Black Agenda Report.

William Blum's essay (condensed by me) courtesy of Counterpunch (March 11, 2016).

Afghanistan: Won't Get Fooled Again!

New World Notes #419 (#93), 29:34 (March 15)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (14 MB)

Why are at war in Afghanistan? Four figures (including me) explore. Steve Fournier questions why H. Clinton called suicide bombers "cowards" while the US is bombarding wedding parties by remote control. David Model (read aloud) lucidly explains the real reason for this war. In a brilliant speech, Afghan activist Malalai Joya denounces the cruelty and hypocrisy of Bush, Obama, Karzai, NATO, the warlords, and the Taliban.

This program was previously broadcast (as NWN #93) in December 2009. Alas, hardly a word needs to be changed! A couple names are now different--e.g., the president of Afghanistan is now named Ohani, not Karzai.

Afghani proverb: "Same donkey, new saddle."

Credit where due:

Steve Fournier's jeremiad recorded exclusively for New World Notes. Read Steve's "Curent Invective" at www.currentinvective.com

David Model's essay, "NATO's Chimerical Enemy in Afghanistan," from CounterPunch, condensed & edited for radio by K.D. http://www.counterpunch.org/model11132009.html

Malalai Joya's November 14 speech in Vancouver recorded for CFRO by Alex Smith--www.ecoshock.org. See also www.stopwar.ca. Joya's speech edited by KD.

Obey and Keep Calm

Part 1: New World Notes #417, 27:56 (March 1)
Broadcast quality MP3 (38 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #418, 29:25 (March 8)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Temujin Doran (pronounced TEM-yu-jin, I think)

Temujin Doran's film, Obey: How the Rise of Mass Propaganda Killed Populism, adapted to radio.  It's about the military, political, and economic crimes of the Corporate State. It features readings from from Chris Hedges' 2010 book, Death of the Liberal Class.

Part 1 features the first half of Obey and then also--to cheer things up a bit--a sweet short film by Doran on the poster and slogan, "Keep calm and carry on."

Part 2 features the second half of Obey--but first some words about our Syria war-fever and a reading of Chidanand Rajghatta's essay, Why America Cannot Live Without Wars.

These two installments of New World Notes were originally broadcast (as #287-288) in September 2013.

Temujin Doran's Web site is http://studiocanoe.com .

The Late 1960s ... and Now

New World Notes #416, 29:15 (February 23)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Draft card burning

The deaths of musicians Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson inspire reflections (by me) on the virtues of the late-1960s "counterculture"--virtues seemingly in short supply today. Such as distrust of authority, feeling of personal power & community, belief that the people can change the world for the better, and experiments in alternative structures.

Or maybe today's situation is actually more hopeful than it seems at first glance.

The show includes commentary by Glen Ford, a poem by W.H. Auden, and music by Jefferson Airplane.

Paul Kantner, 1941-2016

Economics and Inequality

Part 1: New World Notes #414, 28:46 (February 9)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #415, 28:10 (February 16)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Economist Joseph Stiglitz shows that economic inequality in the U.S. is bad, and it is getting worse. Likewise, inequality of opportunity. The causes of the problem--says Stiglitz--are the U.S.'s dysfunctional style of capitalism and a political system that increasingly serves only the economic elite, not "the 99%."

The situation is not only bad for democracy, it's even bad for capitalism, Stiglitz argues. (No socialist, Stiglitz wants to reform capitalism, not replace it.)

Stiglitz's talk is short of proposed solutions, but it is an excellent, lucid, and very listenable survey of the problems we face--and their causes.

Stiglitz's accolades include the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He is former Chief Economist of the World Bank and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. He gave this talk, in Washington D.C., in 2012 on his tour supporting his book, The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future (Norton, 2012).

Climate Change Hope

New World Notes #413, 28:58 (February 3)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Australian climate scientist Tim Flannery reviews some new, cutting-edge approaches to restraining or halting global warming.

Flannery opposes risky "geoengineering" schemes. But the new, "Third Way" approaches, he says, are different. Based on natural processes, they actually remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

These new technologies--combined with a shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar power--give us some reason to hope that climate catastrophe may be averted.

Tim Flannery

Flannery spoke in Seattle on November 12, 2015. The audio of his complete presentation was provided by Mike McCormick, producer of Mind Over Matters, in Seattle. (Many thanks.) I have substantially condensed the talk for this radio program.

Beyond Militarism

New World Notes #412, 28:33 (January 26)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Is American militarism a problem? What are the causes of this militarism? Why are we now calling every guy who ever put on a uniform a "hero"? And can militarism be stopped?

Former career soldier Stan Goff addresses these questions with impressive insight and erudition.

We supplement Goff's analysis with a few minutes of Martin Luther King's fine address on American militarism and war, Beyond Vietnam (April 4, 1967). Plus some background and commentary by KD.

Thanks to Michael Welch, the Global Research News Hour, and station CKUW-FM (Winnipeg, Manitoba) for the recorded interview with Goff, which I have edited and condensed.

Illustrations by Eric Drooker (top), Robert Shetterly (above).

Capitalism vs. Reality

Part 1: New World Notes #410, 29:10 (January 12)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part 2: New World Notes #411, 28:09 (January 19)
Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Michael Parenti (2nd from left)

In this new talk, political scientist Michael Parenti refutes the claim that the "free enterprise" system (capitalism) promotes both democracy and prosperity.

Part 1 focuses on democracy. Through several historical examples--from ancient Greece to the Constitutional Convention to the present day--Parenti shows how the capitalists (and their predecessors) fought democracy every step of the way--and continue to do so. Rather, democracy emerged, in fits and starts, from the struggles of ordinary people to bring practical improvements to their lives.

Part 2 focuses more on prosperity. Drawing on the past 150 years of American history, Parenti refutes the myth that capitalism increases the general prosperity. In fact the system has brought regular recessions and depressions to ordinary citizens. Not "free enterprise" but a massive increase in government spending finally lifted America out of the depression of the 1920s and 1930s.

Parenti spoke at the University of Illinois at Springfield on October 16, 2015. Thanks to the university, and to Dale Lehman of WZRD-FM, Chicago, for the original recording.  I have lightly edited the original and done what I could to improve its audio quality.

The real origins of democracy, according to Parenti